Break Time :)

That's right !! My term 3 is finally over with 2-3 months of break waiting for me :)

First few things done upon reaching home :

• Downloaded new games to play (Portal 2 , COD BO) ;)

• Ordered some pizzas ( Aloha chicken + Beef pepperoni = *thumbs up*)

• Went out and bought a tub of strawberry ice-cream all for myself (I did buy ice-cream for the rest of my family of course, its just that the strawberry tub was ALL MINE :D )

looked something like this, only better :

Droolzzzz.... :P

• Ate Dim Sum with Khai Cheng, Des, Kel and Yee Pei
• Watched some vids on Youtube (Although most of you would think that watching youtube vids isn't anything special, you'd beg to differ after living in a hostel with wired internet connection that breaks every 5 mins for 10 months) (if you're reading this and in the mood for a good laugh check this vid out :P )

I really can't believe 10 months have come and gone by. In a few months time, given that my results are good, I'll be starting my first medical year. So much has happened so fast.

To be honest, I really hated the fact that I was there to begin with. I know it may seem 'childish' to simply use the word hate to describe how i felt before but I can't think of a word more concise and accurate. The thought of working more than 300 hours a month on average in a government hospital for 10 years just worsened my state of mine then, especially whenever I recalled the things the doctors in HKL told us during our 'exposure trip'.

Apart from that, being away from friends, 'wasting' time doing a substandard course (in comparison to A-lvls and STPM), knowing that the best efforts I put in will only land me in a never-heard-of-before university as compared to the likes of IMU and Monash and further more, being away from my then girlfriend all added to the ball of misery that grew in me.

Only about 3 months into the course did I begin to accept my fate and start to take it as a blessing in disguise.

By taking up the scholarship I was helping my parents financially and indirectly carrying out my responsibilities as a son.

I was also learning how to actually be independent. Yes, I use the word 'actually' because although most people my age(teens/young adults) think that we are capable of being independent, you don't really know how it truly feels like until you live on your own. It also got me thinking about how my mom survived when she was my age and how she moved to the city(KL) from Perak all on her own with nothing more then RM800 and a Form 5 education level.

Apart from that, meeting new people, unique in their own ways from all across the country, definitely changed the way I think and look at life. It is most probably true that if your a young adult and you come from the city, your main focus (at the present moment) is getting a good job and making money. But that shouldn't be how one's mind-set is. It is true that money is important in life as it is needed to build a family and no I'm not gonna say 'Money can't buy you happiness' because to an extent it can. But when your old, tired and dieing, I truly believe that all the money in the world would be worthless if you can't look back on your life and be happy with what you've done with it.

So after a while, I just forgot about being angry and focused on the things that mattered most to me. I studied hard. I set new goals for myself to better myself and I made more commitments to what I want to accomplish in life.

To date, I've already:

• participated in two runs ( a 10km one and the Adidas KOTR 11km) and have another 3 coming up soon.
• I bought an electric guitar and learned how to play it ( I'm no Slash or Hendrix or Page but I know an A minor from an E :P ).
• Went back-packing in Penang for 2 days with my house mates.
• Planning to sign up for a Mandarin class (yes for those of you who don't know, I'm a Chinese that can't speak Chinese :P ) tomorrow.
• Learned to solve a 7x7x7 Rubik's cube.
• and many more :)

I never thought I'd end up in some university amongst paddy fields, getting ready to study medicine there. But then again, if I had never gone to Aimst, I wouldn't have found the store that had one of the few 7x7x7 Rubik's cubes in the country and bought it then learnt to solve it. If I hadn't gone there, I'd still be having a laid-back attitude towards life and wouldn't be interested in taking part in any runs. If I hadn't gone there, I wouldn't have realised just how much of a disadvantage I'm at by not knowing Chinese and wouldn't have decided to sign up for lessons. If I hadn't gone there, I wouldn't be writing this post now because I'd still be taking life lazily.

In truth, a lot of things would be different if I had chosen not to go. Can I say I'm glad I did go ? Maybe. But then again, I wouldn't know what pros I'd have if I didn't go. Here is where I know not to ponder on such things ( what might have been or could have been) and just look forward to the future because you'll miss it if you linger in the pass :)